Skyrim lead regrets the RPG’s level cap because players “didn’t want” to just start new characters

Bruce Nesmith, lead designer on Skyrim, says he regrets setting a level cap because he underestimated how attached players would become to their characters. He expected most players to have experienced the bulk of the game by about level 50, so the cap of 81 seemed unimportant; many players, however, wanted to keep developing the same character.

The cap followed from skills topping out at 100, which mathematically set the maximum level at 81. Bethesda later let players reset skills using Dragon Souls in the Dragonborn expansion, with Legendary Mode added in a free update. Nesmith says the fix worked, though it was not his preferred mechanic.